Editorial: It’s about time ‘staff assistants’ eliminated

Political favoritism, like a weed, is difficult to exorcise once it takes root.

So it’s not surprising years separated a federal monitor’s findings about patronage positions in state government and any meaningful action.

A move by Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration provides one of the first real attempts to chip away at politics-based hiring.

It was in 2014 that a monitor examined practices in the Illinois Department of Transportation and found that governors — plural – had been using the position of “staff assistant” as a reward for politically connected friends. Because of the loose employment practices and carefully worded job descriptions, some of the hires were able to barely sneak around legal and ethical considerations.

The findings were nothing new. Leading up to the monitor’s review, there were no fewer than three separate audits or investigations into possible practices ranging from as mild as simply poor decision-making up to nepotism and all the way to political manipulation.

“Some of IDOT’s difficulties result from poor management and personnel decisions which continue to stymie IDOT’s more recent efforts to reform its employment practices. For example, although IDOT has positions governed by two different sets of rules (the personnel code and the “technical” code), it lacks standards for determining which positions are subject to which code, creating confusion and opportunities for manipulation,” the review found.

The impetus for the in-depth review was recurring allegations that well-paying positions were being given based not on competence but on clout – the old “it’s who you know” rule – and going to friends and friends of friends of those who heavily supported the governor.

The sticking point is that’s against the law. Most states backed away from using any hint of political influence in hiring decisions because of a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established what’s commonly known as Rutan rule.

Those guidelines say government positions, promotions or transfers cannot be based on political support or affiliation.

But here’s the loophole.

Positions could be labeled “Rutan-exempt” when they involved setting policy because there was an expectation the person filling the spot would have the same political vision as the governor. These $40,000-a-year jobs – not to mention benefits and pension – were often labeled as “staff assistant.” The special review found the transportation department’s 7,000-person staff included 374 Rutan-exempt positions. In many cases, the job duties had little resemblance to the job description for the position.

“A number of staff assistants that had political connections. The … report identified a number of staff assistants with a family member in a senior IDOT position. … Our initial review also suggests that certain elected officials are more heavily involved in making recommendations for employment to IDOT than others,” according to the most recent review.

Despite the findings – and warnings to correct the practice – there was little push to change.

Until now.

Rauner’s administration on Sept. 1 said all remaining staff assistants had been given layoff notices. As of Thursday, there are none of the positions on the state payroll.

“Every day we are working to restore the people’s faith and confidence in government,” Rauner said. “Ending this illegal patronage hiring and abolishing the staff assistant position is another step in regaining the trust of Illinois taxpayers. Government should work for the people and not the government insiders.”

It’s about time.

Now comes the hard part: Ensuring the mindset that allowed this type of hiring to grow to a scandalous level has been removed as well.